USA > New Jersey > New Jersey and the rebellion : a history of the service of the troops and people of New Jersey in aid of the Union cause, Pt. 1 > Part 9
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" This was done upon the urgent solicitation of Cortlandt Parker and II. N. Congar, Esqs., of Newark, who personally interceded with the President in behalf of his ap- pointment.
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THE FIRST BRIGADE.
miles from Alexandria. General Kearney, whose extraordinary capacity for organizing and moulding troops, was even then but partially understood, at once addressed himself to the task of ad- vancing his command to the highest possible state of efficiency, educating the officers in the most improved rules of military prac- tice, and laboring incessantly to introduce and popularize among the men correct views, and a just appreciation, of discipline. Him- self a thorough soldier, submitting cheerfully to all the exactions of military and camp life, he required his command to come fully up, in every particular whatever, to the requirements of the ser- vice, tolerating no evasions, making no exceptions, accepting of no excuses. At the same time, by manifesting the deepest and most watchful interest in everything which concerned the welfare and comfort of his troops, freely drawing upon his own purse to pro- mote these ends, he inspired them with confidence and self-respect ; elevated in their perceptions the standards of duty, and before the close of the year had so attached officers and men alike to his person that, without exception, they were prepared to follow him into any danger, knowing that, in the midst of battle as on the peaceful parade, his eye would be upon them, eager at once to see how they performed their work and to guard them against un- necessary exposure and peril.6
The experience of the brigade during the fall and winter months was marked by but few incidents of importance, the time being mainly occupied in drill and the ordinary camp duties. There were now and then occasions, however, when the tedium was re- lieved by movements which served to test the mettle of the troops and prepare them for the dangers and hardships of future cam- paigns. The Third Regiment was among the first to come into di- rect collision with the pickets of the enemy and to suffer loss in its ranks from rebel bullets. On the 29th of August, this regiment, while reconnoitering near Cloud's Mills, fell into an ambuscade, and
6 A letter from an officer, published in the Newark Advertiser of September 23, 1861, say .: " I can compare his popularity with the men to nothing else but that of Napoleon 1. with the French army; they almost worship him and would follow wherever- nay, they would go wherever he points as the path of duty. * * Their confidence in his military skill is unparalleled in this country since the days of Washington."
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NEW JERSEY AND THE REBELLION.
lost two men killed and four wounded. On the same day a com- pany of the Second Regiment had a skirmish with a body of the enemy, in which one man was wounded, the rebel loss being twelve in killed and injured. On the 29th of September, General Kear- ney made the first important demonstration which had been had since Bull Run, in the nature of a reconnoisance in force, the troops consisting of the First Brigade, Hexamer's Battery, and a company of Colonel Young's Kentucky Cavalry. The object of the move- ment being to ascertain the character of the enemy's works on Ma- son's hill, some distance from our lines, where he was supposed to be strongly fortifying, the expedition was conducted with the great- est caution, and, the troops behaving with the greatest steadiness, though within shelling distance of the enemy, it was eminently successful, General Kearney obtaining precisely the information he wanted, and information, too, which proved of the greatest value as a guide in future operations. On the 15th of October, a detach - ment of the First Regiment fell in with the enemy, mainly cavalry, and after a brisk skirmish, in which they emptied a number of saddles, retired with the loss of three or four killed. 'These skir- mishes, were only important in so far as they trained the men to vigilance and celerity of movement, though they undoubtedly gave a spice to the otherwise dull and monotonous life of the camps.
Meanwhile the torpor which had characterized the War Depart- ment, and operated as a check upon all movements in the field, had been dissipated by the selection of Edwin M. Stanton, a man of rough but inexhaustible energy, as Secretary, in place of Simon Cameron, and a vast army having been accumulated on the South of the Potomac, on the 27th of January, 1862, an order was issued by the President, directing General Mcclellan to "impel all the disposable force of the army," on or before February 22d, for the seizure and occupation of a point upon the railroad northwestward of Manassas Junction. The Commander-in-chief, however, by indu- cing the President to consent to an advance upon Richmond by way of the Peninsula, obtained a practical suspension of this order, and no advance, consequently, was made at the time designated by the Executive. All this time, however, General Kearney, restive
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THE FIRST BRIGADE.
under constrained inaction was watching with sleepless vigilance for opportunity to show the folly of inactivity, and at length he realized his desire. On the 7th of March, his brigade was ordered to Burke's Station, on the Orange and Alexandria railroad, for the purpose of guarding a party of laborers, and reaching there on the following day, made an extended reconnoisance of the country for several miles around. Subsequently, he was notified by some ne- groes that the enemy was preparing to leave Manassas." He was not slow to act upon this hint. Apprising General Franklin of the information received, but without awaiting orders, he at once push- ed on with his troops, throwing out skirmishers over a wide extent of country, and driving steadily before him the scattered pickets of the enemy. On the 9th, the Second and Third Regiments, with a squadron of the Lincoln Cavalry, occupied Sangster's Station, a point on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad about five miles from Bull Run and nine from Manassas Junction, -the Fourth Regiment acting as support to the advance. Here they surprised a detach- ment of rebel cavalry, killing three and capturing a Lieutenant and eleven men, and losing one officer of the cavalry, killed at the first fire. The First Regiment had meanwhile advanced to Fairfax Court House, whence, on the morning of the 10th, a detachment under Major Hatfield and Captain Vansickle was sent forward to Centreville, which place was entered about noon-the remainder of the regiment coming up shortly after under Lieutenant-Colonel Mc- Allister.8 On the same day, the remainder of the brigade, pushing cautiously forward, reached, and at ten o'clock in the morning, entered the abandoned works at Manassas Junction-eight com- panies of the Third Regiment being the first to take possession and hoist the regimental flag. The withdrawal of the enemy at this point had evidently been precipitate, and an immense amount of hospital and commissary stores was found, together with eighty baggage-wagons, several locomotives, four or five cars,
" Rebel reports show that their evacuation of their winter camps was completed on this very day, preparations therefor (according to Pollard's History) having been in progress for two or three weeks.
* This regiment, which was the last to leave Centreville at the first Bull Run, had thus the honor of being the first to occupy the place in the second advance.
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NEW JERSEY AND THE REBELLION.
two hundred tents, and other property of value.' Among the trophies also were seven flags, one of white silk, with the motto, " Carolinians in the field-Traitors Beware," and another, bordered with heavy silver fringe, with the inscription, "State Rights : Si semper tyrannis."
Thus at all points the advance of the Brigade had been success ful.10 It had demonstrated the feasibility of a forward movement had discovered to the country the indefensibility of the policy of 'masterly inactivity," and had, so to speak, lifted the army out of the slough of despond into which it was rapidly sinking. Pointing the way to success, its example stimulated in other commands a spirit of emulation and activity, and thus, while hanging its own standards with trophies, prepared the way for the grand campaign so close at hand.
Early in April, the brigade was attached to the First Division of the First Army Corps, and on the 7th of that month proceeded to Bristoc Station, on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad, whence it proceeded to Catlet's Station, two miles from Warrenton June- tion-the object of the movement being to engage the attention of the enemy while Mcclellan transferred the main body of his army by transports to the Peninsula. The command remained at Cat- let's until the 11th, when it returned to Alexandria, where, on the 17th, it embarked on steamers in waiting, and sailed for the rendezvous at the mouth of the York River, disembarking on the north-east side of Pequosin Bay, or, as otherwise known.
" "The smoke was still rising from the black ruins of the numerous quarters and store-houses recently fired. Some of the quarters, which had not been fired, were fill- ed with articles of value which time had not permitted their owners to carry away. There were provisions enough to last the regiment for weeks, and of good quality. The men were not slow to appropriate what lay before them. Among other things found were barrels of eggs, already cooked by the fire."-Letter to Philadelphia Inquirer. "General Kearney was with the advance all day, and gave the men free access to everything left behind. As he rode into the works, after their occupation, and drew up in front of our line, lifting his cap under the stars and stripes, three rounds of applause welcomed the hero of Chepultepec."-Ibid.
10 "General MeClellan, advancing in consequence of information received from General Kearney, accompanied by his staff and two thousand horse, was met by General Kear- ney as he was returning to Centreville. The advaneing party had skirmishers in front, and were altogether unprepared, but, of course, greatly delighted, to find that they had encountered, not secessionists, but their own troops."-Newark Daily Advertiser, March 17, 1862.
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THE FIRST BRIGADE.
York Point. At this time General Kearney, having been assigned to the command of a Division (Third) in the Third Corps, Colonel Taylor, of the Third Regiment, took charge of the brigade. On the 5th, Yorktown, having been evacuated the previous day, Franklin's Division was transferred to Yorktown, whence it pro- ceeded to West Point on the York River. Here the troops were disembarked, half a mile southward of the Point, and pickets im- mediately thrown out into the woods in front. During the night, skirmishing was briskly carried on between the opposing pickets, and at daylight the whole division was put under arms. Soon after the enemy advanced, and a sharp engagement ensued, but the New Jersey Brigade being held in reserve, sustained no loss.11 During the evening, the brigade relieved the troops in advance, and lay on their arms in line of battle until daylight, when it was ordered forward, the First, Second and Third Regiments acting as skirmishers, and the Fourth as a reserve. Advancing to a hill from which the enemy had the day previous shelled our transports. it was occupied and held until noon, when, the enemy having re- treated, the troops returned to their old position, whence the First and Second Regiments were advanced on the 9th to join Stone- man's forces. During the fighting at the Point, the brigade was confronted by some of the best troops in the rebel army, which embraced two divisions, but the men fully justified the expecta- tions of their commander, General Franklin cordially commending them for their gallantry. Hexamer's Battery (attached to the brigade) did splendid execution, at one time repulsing with heavy loss the Fifth Alabama, after it had pushed our line a considerable distance from its advanced position.
On the 15th, Franklin's entire division effected a junction with McClellan's army, then near the White House, whence it advanced
11 Later in the evening, the First Regiment, led by Colonel McAllister, while making a charge in the woods, had four men slightly wounded. In this charge, the First took and held a position which two New York regiments had been unable to maintain. A correspondent of the New York Times said of this charge: "The line was as firm as a division in its column at a review. Not a man flinched. Lieutenant- Colonel McAllister, when the enemy broke, bravely pursued them some distance, when he received orders to return and hold the fence which ran across the forest. This firm and determined movement decided the result. The rebels made good their retreat."
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NEW JERSEY AND THE REBELLION.
to the Chickahominy, where it remained for a fortnight. Mean- while, the fighting about Richmond had commenced. On the Chickahominy the first collision had occurred on the 24th. This was followed by a battle near Hanover Court House, in which the Fifth Corps repulsed the enemy with heavy loss. On the 31st, Casey's Division of Keyes' Corps had been beaten back upon Fair Oaks by an overwhelming force of the enemy, much of the lost ground, however, being subsequently recovered by Sedgwick, who was opportunely ordered to the front. The fighting continued more or less severely during the following day, the advantage at the close of the day resting with us, though our loss had been very heavy. On the 6th of June, Franklin's Division was ordered for- ward to Mechanicsville, on the extreme right of our lines, and here it remained for several days, McClellan holding his position and awaiting reinforcements. During part of this time, the brigade was engaged in picket duty at the Meadow Bridge on the line of the Virginia Central Railroad, being frequently disturbed by alarms, but not at any time actively engaged. On the 18th, the corps took position at Fair Oaks, near the battle field of May 31st and June 1st. On the night of May 21st, the First Regiment, under McAllister, was sent out to guard a working party. On the 26th, Stonewall Jackson having engaged our forces at Mechanics- ville, was repulsed, though he did not abandon the field. On the following morning the battle was savagely renewed, the rebels pursuing our troops to Gaines' Mill, whither they had been ordered by Mcclellan to withdraw, and charging again and again upon our lines-compelling them at last to give way.
On the afternoon of that day (the 27th) the New Jersey Brigade left its entrenched camp on the right bank of the Chickahominy, and, crossing that stream, moved down to Woodbury's Bridge, where it found both Fitz John Porter and McCall severely pressed. The brigade was at once formed in two lines, the Third and Fourth Regiments in front, and the First and Second in the second line, and in this order advanced to the brow of a hill in front, where the Third Regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel Brown, was ordered into the woods to relieve Newton's Brigade, which was sorely
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THE FIRST BRIGADE.
pressed by the enemy. At this point the woods, some four hun- dred yards in front of our line of battle, swarmed with rebels, who fought with the greatest desperation and ferocity, handling their artillery, especially, in the most effective manner, and doing fearful execution in our ranks. The gallant Third, however, bravely stood its ground, opening a galling fire on the enemy, and remaining in the woods until the close of the action. About half an hour after reaching the field, the First Regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel McAllister, was also ordered into the woods, and took position under the eye of General Porter. The volleys of musketry from the enemy were at this time terribly rapid and destructive, but officers and men alike bravely held their ground. At length Gen- eral Taylor, dashing to the front, ordered a charge, and the line swept forward with a cheer, driving the rebels clear out of the woods into an open field. Here, however, the reserves of the ene- my were encountered, and our men were compelled to fall back and take a new position. Meanwhile, four companies of the second, under Colonel Simpson, had become engaged-the second, at first acting as a support to Hexamer's battery, but being subsequently sent by General Porter into a belt of woods on the right to support a Michigan Regiment. Unfortunately, however, the latter fell back under some misapprehension, and the four companies of the second were left exposed to the full force of the rebel onset. About the same time, the Fourth Regiment was sent into the woods by order of an aid of General Mcclellan, and thus all the men of the brigade were engaged at the most dangerous and difficult parts of the field. The fighting was from first to last of the most desperate character. The belt of timber through which the storm of battle rolled was something like a mile in length, but not more than two hundred yards wide, having behind it, at the point where our troops were engaged, a large open field, where the enemy had posted their re- serves, which they threw into action from time to time. On either side of the open field, the enemy's artillery was placed, having a perfect range of our forces. But with all the odds of position and numbers against them, the "Jersey Blues " fought steadily on until nightfall, their ranks terribly thinned, indeed, but the survivors
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NEW JERSEY AND THE REBELLION.
still bravely keeping heart. Three times the enemy were driven from the woods, but as often returned, reinforced, to renew the contest. One by one the officers of the stubbornly-fighting regi- ments were shot down. Colonel Tucker fell at the head of his regiment, Major Ryerson, Captain Danforth and others were wounded ; and at last, wearied, bleeding, their ammunition ex- hausted, the brigade slowly retired, and crossing the bridge at eleven o'clock, reached its old camp about midnight, having sus- tained a total loss of over one thousand men in killed and wound- ed, of whom some five hundred, belonging to the Fourth Regiment, were captured in a body, having refused to retreat from the woods when it might have done so, and continued to fight until com- pletely surrounded.12
13 A letter from Colonel Simpson, dated in prison at Richmond, July 8th, says : "The regiment was posted in the wood to sustain the centre in the battle near Gaines' Mill, and nobly did it hold its ground until about an hour after the right and left wings of the army had fallen back. Mine and the Eleventh Connecticut reserve were the last to leave the front, and only did so when we found that the rest of the army had given way, and we were literally surrounded by the infantry and batteries of the Confederate forces.
"Being in the woods, and trusting to our superior officers to inform us when to re- treat, and not being able to sce on account of the woods what was going on towards our right and left, we continued fighting an hour probably after every other regiment had left the ground. The consequence was inevitable. We were surrounded by ten times our number, and though we could have fought until every man of us was slain, yet humanity, and, as I think, wisdom dictated that we should at last yield. Our casualties were one hundred and forty-nine killed and wounded, besides seventy-five missing, of whom a number probably were killed and wounded."
In a subsequent letter, dated July 22d, addressed to his wife, Colonel Simpson wrote: " My regiment was engaged in the action of Friday June 27th, near Gaines' Mill, and only after incessant firing of three hours, and when I found that the right and left flanks of our army had given way, and my regiment was entirely surrounded, did we give up. It is a mortification to find ourselves prisoners of war, but as the Eleventh Pennsylvania Reserve, Colonel Gallagher, and my own regiment were the last to quit the field, having held the centre, probably as much as an hour after the flanks had retreated, and no aid or general came into the woods to tell us to retreat, (which, from our not being able to see what was going on towards the flanks, was necessary, ) and as we only gave up when we had several regiments of the opposing force in our front, right and left flank and rear, and it would only have been certain destruction to us all to Have continued the struggle, with nothing to gain, we cannot be blamed for the unfortunate position in which we now find ourselves. I am happy to say, however, that one captain has treated me courteously, and the rigor in which we are held as prisoners has been very much mitigated by the kindly offices of old army friends now in the Confederate service, who have called upon me.
" The casualties of the regiment, so far as I have been able to ascertain, were as follows : Captain Charles Mervis, Co. A, killed; Secoud Lieutenant J. Shaw, Co. B, killed ; Lieutenant Charles Meyer, Co. A, slightly wounded; Second Lieutenant R. W. Roberts,
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THE FIRST BRIGADE.
The day was lost, but not through any fault of the New Jersey Brigade. It was lost because the battle was shamefully misman- aged from first to last; because at the most critical moments no superior officer could be found to furnish supports or to bring order out of chaos. Three several times General Taylor sent his aids through a fearful fire to procure from some commander necessary orders and support ; but none could be found, and so, abandoned, he was compelled to fight a force outnumbering him six to one, as long as the most obstinate courage could hold out. It was no wonder, under these circumstances, that the heroic brigade, the flower of the division, representing three thousand New Jersey households, where women wrestled in prayer through all those bitter days of blundering and disaster, was almost obliterated ; that out of the two thousand eight hundred stout-hearted men who marched a-field in the early afternoon, but nine hundred and sixty- five, wearied, scarred, and dark with the grime of battle, answered to their names in the solemn midnight when the morning's camp was reached.13
Co. C, slightly wounded; First Lieutenant W. F. Eldridge, Co. E, slightly wounded ; First Lieutenant J. L. Ridgeway, wounded; Second Lieutenant C. H. Hatch, wounded ; Captain Samuel Mulford, slightly wounded; enlisted men killed, fifty-three; enlisted men wounded, one hundred and twenty-one. This number will probably run up to two hundred, and possibly more when we shall have learned the fate of the missing and unaccounted for. The number, including the officers, I went into action with, was six hundred and twenty-seven; so far as positively known, the killed and wounded amounted to twenty-nine per cent. of the whole force engaged. The only officers not in the fight were Captain Hall, siek at Camp Lincoln; Lieutenant King, sick in New Jersey, and Lieutenant Camp, on signal duty."
13 The correspondent of the Newark Daily Advertiser, who was present at this fight, says of the absence of good management in the affair :
"The New Jersey troops bore the brunt of the whole fight from the time they ar- rived till our forces were withdrawn from the field. They had no support at all-no fresh troops were in reserve for them to fall back upon; and none were sent for until it was nearly dark, when the ground had been given up, and the whole right wing of the army was in full retreat-almost in a pauic. It was folly-downright madness-to throw the troops into those woods at all until they had been effectually shelled by our artillery. We had artillery enough there to have torn the woods to pieces, and thus have forced the rebels to meet us in an open field, but it was not done. In fact, a large portion of our artillery was kept inactive all the afternoon, and much that was used- from the peculiar position of the combatants-killed almost as many of our own men as of the enemy. We also had a large force of cavalry which were held as idle spec- tators of the battle, when at several critical periods they might have been used most advantageously. Had a squadron of cavalry been on hand to charge upon the rebels
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NEW JERSEY AND THE REBELLION.
The losses of the day fell heavily upon the shattered command. for not a few of those who went down in the storm had been men of mark, and held high social as well as military rank. In the First Regiment, Major David Hatfield was wounded in the early part of the engagement, and subsequently died of his injuries ; Captain E. G. Brewster was killed, while Captains Way, Mount and others were wounded-the total loss in the regiment being twenty-one killed, seventy-eight wounded, and sixty missing. In the Second Regiment, out of four companies, fifteen were killed, forty-eight wounded and forty-one missing, while in the Third, the loss was thirty-four killed, one hundred and thirty-six wounded, and forty-five missing. The Fourth, besides its loss in prisoners, lost thirty-eight killed and one hundred and eleven wounded. The six companies of the Second Regiment not engaged in the battle, were on picket, holding a redoubt in an advanced position, where they were exposed to a constant fire of the enemy's shells, but suffered, fortunately only a single casualty.14 The instances of gal-
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